An Unfortunate Situation
by JinxedClarinet
Summary: Eddie's life is thrown in a loop when Patricia is admitted to the hospital.
1. Prolouge

The thing about being in love is that you never really can seem to get the object of your affection out of your head.

That was how Eddie felt. Every time he let his mind wander, all he could seem to get his thoughts away from Patricia. The way she smiled, her sweet laugh, the way she talked to him: all of these things would float around and distract him. Not that he minded, in fact, these things were the reason he really realized that he loved her.

And that was why he was so devastated when that day of tragedy struck. It was a date he could never forget: April 29th.


	2. A Day to be in Love

The day had started out normally enough. Everyone was sitting at the breakfast table before school and talking a whole lot about nothing in particular. When the time came, Eddie and Patricia walked over to class together.

"You know it's been three months now," Patricia said calmly.

"What do you mean?" Eddie had asked in return.

"It's been exactly three months since our first kiss. I guess that's what I consider to be the beginning of our relationship."

"You actually remember the date of that?"

"Of course I do. It was just a little while after I lost my voice, and the same day that physics project was due."

"Well then, I think I know the perfect way of celebrating that." Eddie leaned down and kissed her full on the lips. The kiss lasted a little longer than either of them intended since neither of them had the strength to break away from the other. But eventually everyone needs air and they separated gasping, but smiling.

"Yup," said Patricia, "there's no better way to celebrate our first kiss than that."

"Nope," Eddie smiled and since he had caught his breath back and he couldn't help himself, he leaned down and kissed her again, gently this time, his soft lips barely brushing hers. "Come on, we'll be late for class.

They were both late despite that they had run the last stretch to get to the school. Mr. Sweet gave them both a reproachful look, but no punishments were given. He was quite sympathetic toward his son's and his girlfriend's love for each other.

The morning rolled by slowly, the monotony only broken by Patricia's notebook which the two young lovers passed back and forth, each of them adding to a doodle that Patricia had started first period. As soon as there was a break for lunch, Eddie offered to set up a picnic.

_He could be annoying and hopeless at times_, Patricia thought, _but when it came to the right time, he __could also be quite romantic._

The two seemed blissfully unaware of anyone else for the day. The morning's kiss seemed to have inspired them both to spend the day showing each other their feelings.

It was shortly after lunch that it had started.

"I don't feel so great." Patricia had whispered to Eddie during class.

"You two," Miss Valentine had directed her attention toward them, "If you can't be quiet, I'll have to separate you."

Eddie smiled sympathetically at his girlfriend, but soon forgot her statement.

After school Eddie and Patricia walked back to the house with Nina and Fabian. The four of them were discussing an assignment that had recently been given to them in their French class. Nina held the paper in front of her and attempted to remember exactly what the French word for "take" was. "It's 'prendre,' Eddie said as she was asking Fabian, "but you'll have to conjugate it if it's not in the infinitive form.

"Thanks," Nina said, "usually I'm way better at this stuff."

"It happens to the best of us," Patricia said, "brain block is such a pain." She moved closer to Eddie and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Nothing, it's just a headache."

Eddie accepted the answer and, once again, put the issue out of his mind.

It really wasn't until later in the evening at supper when he started to become concerned. As Trudy placed food on the table, Patricia made a face and stood up. "I'm not really hungry."

"Is there something else I can get you?" Trudy asked.

"Nah, I'll just go get a head start on the rest of my homework." She left for her room and Eddie stood up to follow her.

"I'm just gonna go see if she's okay." He told the rest of the group as he left.

She wasn't okay. He knew that the instant he entered the room and found her on the floor. "Trudy, come here!" He called.

Her response was instant and she rushed into the room. "Oh my!" She exclaimed as she saw what Eddie had called her for. She crouched down and shook Patricia's shoulder. "Patricia!" She called to the unconscious girl, "Patricia, are you okay." The lack of response alarmed her even more.

"Well that's not good." She said to no one in particular. "I'd better call a doctor." She walked out of the room leaving Eddie standing there alone, wondering exactly what he was supposed to do.

He stood still for a moment, still slightly consumed by shock as he remembered her previous comments about not feeling very well during the day.

"Let's hope it's nothing too serious, Yakker." He said with a hint of worry in his voice. He leaned down and scooped her off the floor to move her to her bed.

He had only just set her down when Nina walked into the room. "Is she okay?" She asked Eddie. "I heard Trudy telling Victor to call a doctor."

"I don't know. She was mostly fine for most of the day."

"Well, mostly fine is far from perfect." She snapped at him.

"No really, she was fine all morning and it wasn't until the afternoon that she even mentioned not feeling well."

"And you ignored her?"

"It's not my fault! I thought it was just a cold or something. There wasn't really anything I could do, was there?"

"I don't know, you could have at least told someone."

"Listen, it's not that big of a deal, she's probably fine."

"Not that big of a deal! She's unconscious and nobody has any idea what her problem is. You don't think that's a big deal?"

"Look, I'm sorry, but you're not making anything better by yelling at me. Let's just try to find out what's wrong first."

Attracted to the room by his girlfriend's yelling, Fabian entered the room.

"What's wrong; what's going on?" He asked before he noticed Patricia, lying unconscious. "Oh my. What happened to her?"

"Well, she hasn't been feeling too well all afternoon. When she left from dinner I was worried, so I came in here and found her on the floor." Eddie explained.

"Trudy went to have Victor call a doctor." Nina added.

"Well I hope she's gonna be okay." Fabian said.

Trudy walked in moments later. "Victor's called the doctor. He's headed over. Based on the situation, he doesn't think it's anything serious, but he's coming over anyway just to make sure as well as to see if she has a concussion from her fall."

"So then she'll probably be okay?" Eddie asked hopefully.

"I believe so, but let's not leave her alone just in case."

"Well if everything's fine, then Fabian and I are going back to supper." Nina said and the two of them walked out of the room.

"You can go too if you like, Eddie." Trudy said. "I'll stay here with her."

"That's fine, Trudy, I think I'll stay. I'm not really that hungry anymore anyway."


	3. The Doctor's Verdict

The doctor showed up about fifteen minutes later. When he walked into the room, he found that multiple people were already occupying it.

"There she is." said Trudy, as she ushered him into the room.

Patricia was still comatose on the bed. Eddie sat on the edge at her feet. Joy and Mara were sitting on their respective beds and since Jerome was usually where Mara was, he sat on the floor by her bed.

The doctor walked up to Patricia and then looked around the room. "It's probably best if you all leave." He said to the small crowd.

Obeying him, everyone headed out except Trudy, Eddie lingered at the door. "You'll let me know when you know, right?" He addressed Trudy.

"Of course, Sweetie, don't worry, everything will be fine."

Eddie waited in the living room where most everyone was already. No one appeared to be very worried, but Eddie's mind kept wondering to the worst possibilities and he couldn't concentrate on anything.

What was only twenty minutes felt like forever. Eddie jumped up as Trudy walked downstairs. "So, how is she?"

"She should be fine, Trudy assured him. She doesn't even have a concussion. The doctor said she's most likely just got the flu and passed out from fatigue. There's no cause for worry."

The doctor walked down the stairs shortly after. "Call me again if she doesn't wake up within the next three hours. But she should be up in just a little while." He left after that leaving the Anubis residents feeling much more relieved.

Eddie returned to Patricia's room to wait for her to wake up. Joy went back with him.

"So, I bet this threw a loop in your day." Joy addressed Eddie.

"Nothing I can't handle, besides, she should be fine."

"Tell me something: do you love her?"

"What! That's none of your business."

"Oh, come on, I'm her best friend, I think I deserve to know."

"I don't think so. It's between me and her. Just stay out of it."

"You certainly do seem pretty concerned for her health and well-being."

"Wouldn't anyone be worried if they found their girlfriend passed out on the floor in her room, especially after she'd been telling you she wasn't feeling well all day."

"Well, I'd be more worried for myself if I were you. She's already sick, but you probably still have some time before you contract whatever disease she's got."

"What are you talking about?"

"Didn't you two spend pretty much the whole day kissing each other. I'd be worried, that's all I'm saying."

"Gosh, you really don't look at the important things in life do you. I'm way more worried about her. I wouldn't care if I got whatever thing she has. My immune system's probably better anyway."

"Why's that?"

"Because I'm from America, of course."

Joy scoffed at that. "I highly doubt that makes any difference."

"Whatever, it doesn't matter. Besides, the doctor said she'll be okay anyway."

But she wasn't, and after two hours, she had not woken up. That's when the call came:

"It's ten o' clock! You have five minutes, and then I want to be able to hear a pin drop!"

"Crap!" Eddie exclaimed, "I totally lost track of the time." He ran downstairs and met Trudy at the bottom.

"Eddie," She said, "has Patricia not woken up yet?"

"No, and I'm starting to get a little more than concerned."

"Well, I'm sure she'll be up within the next hour." Trudy's optimistic attitude seemed slightly tinged with doubt.

"I'm assuming there's no chance you'll let me stay up with her."

"None, I'm sorry, love, but you need your sleep. I'll stay with her, don't you worry."

"And you'll call the doctor if she doesn't wake up?"

"Of course. Now you go to bed before Victor sends you there himself."

Eddie walked back to his room in dismay. He wanted, above all for her to just wake up so he could stop worrying. The weight of it was so heavy on his chest.

"Are you okay?" Fabian asked him as he walked into their room.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. I'm just worried, that's all."

"I guess I would be, too if it was Nina. But the doctor said she'll be fine so it's probably best to just let it go and get some sleep."

"I don't know if it's gonna be that easy."

"Look, you're not helping her any by denying yourself sleep. If you two switched places, wouldn't you rather her get some rest."

"Yeah, I suppose so...You know Joy was bothering me about it too."

"What do you mean?" Fabian asked.

"She kept telling me I should worry more about myself because I had a good chance of catching whatever she had."

"That's ridiculous, but I suppose it's not unlike Joy. She's usually more concerned about herself than others. She's just probably thinking you feel the same way."

"Yeah, I guess so."

The two of them went to sleep shortly after. It took Eddie some tossing and turning, but eventually his tiredness won out over his worry.

**AN: Thank you to all who reviewed. I really appreciate the support and feedback.**


	4. The Hospital

The ambulance came in the middle of the night. Everyone had been sleeping, but the siren quickly changed that.

Eddie was the first to jump out of bed. He raced down the hall in his pajamas just in time to see Patricia being carried out the front door. Trudy followed quickly behind her. Eddie looked at the clock. It had been way more than three hours.

"Trudy, what happened?" Eddie asked.

"I'm so sorry. Trudy seemed on the verge of tears. I fell asleep after about half an hour and didn't wake up until I heard her breathing change."

"What!"

"She's having trouble breathing and she hasn't woken up. They're taking her down to the hospital now. They won't know exactly what's wrong until they can run some tests."

"Can I come along, then?"

"I'm afraid not, Sweetie. You've got school tomorrow. It's best you go to sleep and try not to think about it." She hurried after the paramedics and into the ambulance which wailed away, taking Patricia with it.

It wasn't until then that Eddie noticed the others around him. They all had looks of concern on their faces and a sort of worried sadness passed silently through the group of students.

"I bet she'll be fine." Nina said, trying to comfort herself as well as the whole group. "We'll wake up tomorrow and she'll be back telling us it's ridiculous that we thought anything was wrong.

"Why are you all out of bed!" Victor's voice boomed from the top of the stairs.

"It's Patricia," Fabian began to explain, "she..."

"I am very well aware of what has happened and, regardless, I want you all in bed! Now go!"

Everyone scrambled off to their respective rooms.

"That's more like it." Victor said to himself as he headed back to his office.

Eddie sat down on his bed. His face was pale and shocked.

"Eddie, are you okay?" Fabian asked him.

"Yeah, I just..." Eddie trailed off.

"Hey man, it's okay to be worried. We all are at this point. We just have to keep our hopes up that it's nothing too bad and she'll be back soon.

Eddie nodded in response.

Fabian turned off the light and soon fell back to sleep. Eddie stayed up the rest of the night worrying.

The next morning, breakfast was rather quiet.

After Eddie had woken up, he moved into the kitchen to see if Trudy was there. She was, calmly preparing the meal.

"Trudy," Eddie began.

"Before you say anything, let me tell you the doctors still aren't sure yet. They were still running tests when I left and they told me there wasn't anything I could do, so I might as well come back here. They promised to call if anything changes."

"Can I go and see her this morning then?"

"Goodness, no. You've got school today and you're expected to be there."

Eddie frowned. "Nina skipped school to see her Gran when she was in the hospital."

"That was different, she was family."

Eddie headed straight over to the school after hearing this to talk to his father.

"Dad!" The teenage boy burst into his father's office. "You have to let me go over to the hospital to see Patricia."

"Edison, I understand your concern, but I believe that right now your studies are far more important." Mr. Sweet's voice was tired, but firm.

"My studies? My studies are more important that my girlfriend who could be dying in the hospital alone for all I know!"

"That's not what I'm saying. I only mean that it's probably best for everyone if we leave the doctor's alone with her for a while. Honestly, there's nothing you can do right now."

"Fine!" Eddie stomped out of the small room, slamming the door behind him.

The school day passed far too slowly for Eddie's comfort. In fact, many of the residents of Anubis house seemed unconcerned with their studies as they worried about what might be wrong with Patricia.

As soon as the final bell rang, Eddie sprang out of his seat and rushed back to the house. He found Trudy waiting at the front door.

"I thought you'd be the first back." She said. "I'm heading over now, you're welcome to come with me."

"Finally!" Eddie said, "Let's go!"

As they drove, Eddie interrogated Trudy about any news she had heard from the hospital.

"They're waiting for me to arrive right now to give me the layout of what they believe is wrong."

"But they do know what's wrong, right?"

"They believe so."

"And is she going to be okay."

"They believe so, if she's given the proper treatment."

"Has anyone even called her parents?"

"Her sister has been contacted, but we were unable to reach any other members of her family. Apparently, her parents have chosen a very bad time to go on an extended vacation in Australia."

"And they can't come back to make sure their daughter's okay?"

"Like I said, we can't reach them. They don't even know anything's wrong. Cell phone reception is hard to come by down under."

Eddie only nodded in response, he had stopped following what she was saying.

As the two of them pulled up to the hospital, Eddie wanted to jump out and run. And he would have, too, if he had not know that that wouldn't get him anywhere.

He allowed Trudy to walk up with him and direct him to the room where Patricia was.

He gasped slightly when he saw her lying there. She just looked so helpless. She was hooked up to multiple IVs and her breathing was shallow, yet thankfully steady. Her eyelids fluttered as if she were having a vivid dream.

A nurse walked in, then and proceeded to take a blood check.

"Excuse me," Trudy addressed the nurse, "Have you been working with Patricia Williamson."

"Yes," the nurse responded, "are you her mother."

"No, I'm her house-mother, though. She lives at the boarding school that's just down the street. We were unable to contact her parents, so I'm standing in the place of her mother. Would you be able to tell me exactly what's wrong with her?"

"Well, there's some liquid in her lungs which is what caused the trouble breathing last night. She also has a rare form of the flu which is what caused the upset in her system in the first place. We believe she'll be okay, but her fever is very high right now and we won't know anything for sure until we can get that to come down."

Eddie sank down into a chair, slightly overwhelmed by the news that told him that there was a chance that Patricia would not be okay.

"The good news is she's not contagious, so we don't have to put her under quarantine." The nurse continued.

Eddie smiled a little at that, "Good." Then he got up and moved over to stand by Patricia. Then, he leaned down and gently brushed his lips against hers. The fluttering in her eyelids stopped for a moment, but then her fevered dream continued as before.


	5. Delerium

Eddie remained in the hospital for as long as he could. He sat next to her and held her hand, hoping she would wake up even though the doctors had specifically told him that she was on a strong dose of medicine that would leave her in a restful state.

"Come on, Yakker," He said to her when he was in the room alone, "you can fight through this."

About an hour after their arrival, Trudy asked Eddie if he would come back with her since she needed to get started with supper.

"Is there any way I can stay just a while longer?" His eyes were sincere as he asked Trudy this question.

"I suppose so. I'll send Victor to pick you up in about an hour or so."

True to her word, Trudy sent Victor and forced Eddie to sit through one of the most painful car rides of all time.

Things remained this way for three days. The doctors remained unsure. Eddie remained stressed and worried. And Anubis house remained quiet and sad.

Things really didn't start looking up until the fourth day Eddie went to visit Patricia after school.

"Her fever's gone down, so we've taken her off of some of the drugs that were making her sleep before. We're hoping she'll stay stable without them. Our main concern right now is getting the fluid out of her lungs. We've been trying to drain it naturally, but it's not working very well. If she doesn't improve soon she might need surgery." The nurse gave them the briefing as they walked into Patricia's room. "She's asleep now, but she's only resting and she'll probably be up soon."

Eddie nodded, absorbing all of this information that was coming at him so fast.

"Oh, and she's fairly delirious right now." The nurse added. "Don't be alarmed if she can't remember too much. And try not to stress her out. She's sick enough already." This last comment was directed right at Eddie.

He threw his hands up as if defending himself. "I would never do that."

The nurse cast him a final skeptical look as she left.

The nurse had been right. When Eddie and Trudy walked in Patricia was asleep. But since he knew that she was only on the edge of waking up now, Eddie was careful to be quiet. He noticed Trudy was doing the same. They both sat down and waited for her eyes to open.

After a silent moment, Trudy reached into her pocket and pulled out a bit of money. "Eddie, would you mind going down to the cafeteria and getting me some tea?"

In normal circumstances, Eddie wouldn't have agreed. But he really liked Trudy and her natural motherly nature, plus he could see the bags under her eyes and understood why she was asking for tea. She could clearly use a caffeine boost.

He left the room, still being quite quiet. He made his way down to the cafeteria and bought some tea for Trudy. On a whim, he bought some for himself, too. He much preferred coffee, but anything that could wake him up seemed good to him at the time.

As he was about to walk into the room, he heard a raspy voice speaking. "Yeah, you're Trudy, aren't you. I think I like you, but I'm not really sure. Sorry, I can't really remember. Gosh, my head hurts."

"Oh dear, do you even know who I am, sweetie?" That was Trudy's voice.

"I just said you're Trudy."

"Yes, but do you know what I do?"

"Yeah you're... sorry, I can't remember."

That almost brought tears to Eddie's eyes. He didn't want to step in. He was afraid he wouldn't know who he was. But surely she would remember her own boyfriend. He hesitated for a long time, but finally, he stepped into the room, a small smile on his lips.

Patricia's eyes were finally open. They shined with her obvious fever. She watched him as he handed the tea Trudy. Then he moved to stand by her bed. She looked puzzled, as though she was trying to dredge up memories from a distant past.

"Hey," Eddie greeted her, "how are you feeling?"

"Like mashed potatoes. How about you?" It was obvious she was avoiding actually having to tell him who he was to her.

"What on earth do mashed potatoes feel like?" He asked.

"It feels exactly like I feel right now. I can't think of a better way to describe it. My head hurts so much." She moved her hand to place it on her forehead and seemed mildly surprised to find an IV going into it. "I don't really remember that being there."

"Don't worry about it. You'll feel better soon and then you'll probably remember anything."

"Do you know what it feels like?"

"What?"

"Sorry, I don't know what I'm talking about." Her eyes glazed over for a moment and she closed them as if she was about to go back to sleep.

"Wait!" Eddie was almost frantic, he wasn't ready for her to fall asleep again quite yet. "Were you talking about not remembering."

"Yeah, that." Her eyes opened again, "I feel like I have no past. These people keep coming in and asking me if I remember how I got here and if I know who they are. And you know what? I really have no idea. I don't really understand at all. I just know I feel awful and I guess that's why I'm in a hospital."

She was rambling. That was quite clear. She couldn't think of anything to say and she felt so strange and sick that it seemed like her real self was floating somewhere outside of her body, waiting for her to get better.

"So then do you know who I am?" Eddie said the words without thinking. He was so afraid of the answer that they just seemed to slip out of his mouth.

"Who are you?" She repeated the question and then closed her eyes again. They stayed closed for so long that Eddie thought she'd gone back to sleep, but then the opened again and she smiled. "Sorry if I'm wrong, but did we kiss once?"

Eddie almost laughed. He was partially sad and partially relieved. At least she knew something.

"No wait, I think we kissed more than once." Her voice was so raspy that Eddie almost wanted her to stop talking to save her voice.

"You're the same old Yakker, even when you're sick, did you know that?"

"What do you mean by that? Hold on, sorry, let me think for a moment." She paused again, but this time she didn't close her eyes, she just looked straight at him. "Are you my boyfriend or something?"

"Yeah, something like that." Then he leaned down and kissed her, long and slow. He was forced to pull back in alarm, though, when a loud beep came from her oxygen monitor.

**AN: Once again, thanks to all of you who have reviewed. I love knowing that you're enjoying the story. **


	6. A Visit From Friends

The next day was Saturday, so many of the residents of the house of Anubis decided to go to the hospital to visit Patricia. Everyone went except Jerome and Mara who were spending the day with Jerome's dad and of course Victor who never seemed to go anywhere.

Eddie sat next to Joy on the way over.

"So, she not contagious?" Joy asked Eddie.

"No, I've already told you that."

"How can she have the flu and not be contagious?"

"It's a rare version of the flu. It's not very common and it usually only infects those with O negative blood which is also pretty rare."

"Then if you don't have O negative blood, you're good?"

"That's part of it, but even if you have that blood type, Patricia's germs are very isolated and can't be caught."

"That's complicated, but I guess it's a relief for you to hear that you won't be catching anything."

"I already told you I wasn't worried about it in the first place." Eddie had progressively gotten more and more annoyed with the other girl.

"If you say so."

Nina, who had been listening to the conversation, added her own comment. "I'm just glad she's gonna be okay, you should be to."

"I am glad. I've just been saying that before we knew about whether or not she'd be contagious, we were all pretty worried we were all going to get sick."

"I'd just let it go, Joy. We're all fine. We really should be worried about Patricia." Nina responded.

"That reminds me, I forgot to tell you." Eddie began. "She's been delirious. She can't really remember too much."

"Remember too much how?" Fabian asked.

"Well, she can't really remember anyone very well and she also has some trouble with events. Like she doesn't know exactly how she got into the hospital."

"So would she remember us?" Amber asked.

"To some degree yes." Eddie responded.

"We're here." Trudy called back as she pulled up into the hospital's parking lot.

The troop jumped out of the car and then walked into the hospital. There was some trouble checking in when they found out that only four people could visit at once. The there was a bit of a fight about who should go first. Eddie ultimately won this as he simply walked away and managed to be in the room first while the others duked it out.

Nina, Joy, and Fabian were the ones that joined him. Patricia was only half awake and was in the middle of getting her blood drawn.

She looked up at Eddie. "I hate this." She told him in her hoarse voice. Then she drew in a sharp breath as the needle went into her arm.

"Hey, it's not forever, Yakker." He leaned down to kiss her as soon as the nurse walked away. "How are you feeling?"

"A bit better I guess. I still can't really remember too much though."

"Do you remember me?"

"In some ways. I remember that I like you a lot and that I'm okay with kissing you."

"Do you remember these guys?" Eddie gestured toward the other members of the house in the room.

"Um..." Patricia looked around at the other three people in the room. "That one's Joy." She pointed at Joy, "And those two are Nina and...hold on." She paused, staring at Fabian. "Um, you're Fabian, right?"

Fabian nodded.

"Sorry, I'm really tired." Patricia closed her eyes.

Eddie smiled as though to apologize for his girlfriend. "She's been like that since she woke up yesterday. The doctors say she'll get better when her fever goes down."

He was interrupted suddenly by a violent coughing coming from Patricia. "That doesn't sound so great." He said as a nurse walked in.

"Hey Patricia," the nurse's voice was a little bit too chipper. "How are you feeling today?"

"Sick," Patricia responded between coughs.

"Can I get your temperature?" The nurse gently placed a thermometer in her mouth. During this pause, the others in the room found places to sit down. The thermometer was taken out after a short beep. "104.2," the nurse read off, "that's not too good, it's higher than last night."

Patricia shrugged as though apologizing for this not so fortunate turn of events.

"How's your memory?" The nurse asked.

"Same," Patricia said.

"And your discomfort level on a scale of one to ten?"

Patricia paused, "probably eight."

"Okay, I'm going to go see about getting you something to lower your fever and make you feel a little better." Before leaving the room, she addressed the others there. "She's really not doing too well this morning. It's fine for you to be here, but try to let her get some rest and don't strain her by trying to make her remember too much."

The others nodded to this as she left.

"Well, you heard the doc," Joy said, "we'd better let you rest." She smiled at Patricia and headed toward the door. "Feel better soon, okay. I'll see you later."

Nina and Fabian followed shortly after her.

Eddie smiled down at his girlfriend. "I'd better let the others come see you. I've also got to go back and catch up on some things back at the house. I'll see you later, Yakker."

He left and the others made there way into the room. Amber, Alfie, and Trudy didn't take too long, especially since the nurse told them that rest was really the best thing for her and she was having even more trouble remembering who everyone was.

They all headed back to the house and were fairly well convinced that she would be better soon enough and back on her feet within the week.

The phone call came to Trudy in the afternoon. She felt she should tell Eddie first.

The knock came on Eddie's door and Trudy walked in to find him lying on his bed with his laptop.

"I just got a call from the hospital." She began. "Patricia's been having some trouble breathing. They had to take her into emergency surgery to get the fluid out of her lungs."


	7. After Surgery

Eddie and Trudy both rushed back to the hospital only to find that she was still in surgery when they got there.

"They say it's a fairly simple process; there are no risks at all. It should also do her a world of good." Trudy explained to Eddie.

"Will this help at all with her fever and the flu?" Eddie asked.

"It will definitely make her feel better, but it's not likely to do anything with the fever."

The two of them spent quite a bit of time in the waiting room until a doctor came out to inform them that everything had gone very well and that she'd be feeling a lot better once the anesthetic.

She'd switched rooms and they waited with her there. When the anesthetic wore off about fifteen minutes later, she opened her eyes and gave a little cough.

Eddie was at her side in seconds. "How are you doing?"

She looked up at him and smiled faintly, "What?"

"Some of the drugs she was on might make her a little loopy." Trudy looked up from a magazine she'd been reading.

"You feel loopy?" Eddie asked her.

"Yes." She smiled again, "my throat feels weird."

"You just got out of surgery."

"Surgery, no way." She lifted her arm to playfully swipe his.

"You're definitely loopy, Yakker." He smiled back at her and laughed a little. "You must be feeling better."

"Better? I feel great, let's blow this joint."

A nurse walked in then. "Look who's up." She said when she saw Patricia. "She's probably going to seem a little insane right now. That's the anesthetic we had her on. She'll be miserable when it wears off." She turned to address Patricia. "Let's check your temperature."

It had gone down to 102.4 which was considerably better especially since she had just come out of surgery. "Who knows, she might be out of here within the week." The nurse sounded pretty optimistic.

Sadly, her earlier comment was completely accurate. Patricia's mood went way down as soon as the stuff that was making her loopy wore off.

She spent the next hour groaning. Eddie had sympathy for her at first, but after the first ten minutes, he couldn't help but be annoyed. He pressed the call nurse button for her.

"What's wrong?" The nurse asked as she walked into the room.

"She's been moaning for a while now. I thought maybe you could give her a painkiller or something." Eddie made the suggestion.

"I could, but sometimes it's better for us to just let the patients tough these things out. It won't be too terribly long before she starts feeling better."

The nurse did take her temperature though, just to make sure nothing had changed too much. It had gone up slightly, but that was to be expected since it was later in the afternoon and usually that was when the temperature was the highest.

She fell asleep shortly after and Eddie and Trudy decided it was about time they got back to the house.

"Feel better soon, Yakker." Eddie whispered to her before leaving the room.

At school the following Monday, Eddie was called into his dad's office about halfway through the morning.

"How are you doing?" Mr. Sweet asked as soon as his son came in.

"What do you mean?"

"Your girlfriend's been in the hospital for a while now. I'm guessing that's taken its toll on you. You look pretty tired. Have you been getting your schoolwork done?"

"My schoolwork isn't exactly at the top of my list of things to do right now, Dad." Eddie scoffed slightly.

Mr. Sweet took his glasses off and wiped his forehead with a handkerchief. "How much time have you been spending in the hospital?"

"I go there every day, twice a day if I can."

"And how is she doing?"

"She was in surgery yesterday, but she's doing a little better now. They say she'll probably be out sometime this week. They're sure she'll get better now."

"Well that's good. I understand that this is a really hard time for you and I will excuse some late work, but you can't use this as an excuse to do nothing, okay?"

"Why don't you come with me when I go after school today, Dad. I think Patricia would like that, too."

"I think I could do that."

Eddie smiled, "I'll see you after school then, okay?" He headed out the door.

True to his word, Mr. Sweet went with Eddie to the hospital after school. Patricia's delirium had gone away completely, but her fever still remained fairly high and the doctor's all thought it was necessary to keep her on an IV drip with a medication that was controlling her flu.

"Hey, how are you doing?" Eddie walked in and addressed her. He had brought some flowers with him and he placed them on her bedside table.

"I can remember everything now except for any of the time that I couldn't remember anything. I was really surprised when I woke up today and they told me I'd been here for five days. Other than that, I feel kind of nasty. My head and throat hurt really bad."

"I brought my dad today."

Patricia smiled at him where he stood in the corner.

"I'm glad you're doing better." Mr. Sweet smiled back. "I'll be right back, I'd like to go get some tea." He walked out of the room.

Eddie watched her go and leaned closer to Patricia as soon as his footsteps died away.

"So," he said, "you don't remember anything?"

"No, not really." She said. "Is there something important I missed?"

"Nothing I can't re-do." He leaned down and kissed her, long and gently. Her lips instantly responded to his and the two of them remained locked together for a long time.

"You'd think I would have remembered something like that." She said as he pulled away.

"It's alright. We just have a lot of making up to do." He leaned down and the two of them kissed again.

This lasted for a while, but Eddie was forced to pull back fairly quickly as his dad walked in. The two of them looked at each other awkwardly hoping that he hadn't seen anything.

The covert smile that they shared said that they'd have to keep catching up the next time they were alone.


	8. In the Lobby

On Wednesday, Patricia was finally let out of bed. There was a lobby on her floor where the patients were allowed to stay if they were given the clear to leave their rooms.

Patricia was hugely relieved by this change. She had gotten very bored very fast when she was left alone in her room. There were at least other people in the lobby. The only downside was that she needed to have her IV transported with her wherever she went, so she couldn't go anywhere without dragging and awkward giant machine behind her.

Eddie laughed when he found her there. She was lying on the couch that dominated much of the room. Her head was on the couch and her feet hung off the edge.

"What's so funny, slimeball?" She asked him as he walked toward her.

"What happened to the nice version of you, Yakker?"

"She started feeling better. My fever went down again today, but they still won't let me go. It's so boring here."

"Yeah, well I'm sure things will pick up now that I'm here." He sat down beside her. "You're still wearing your pajamas you know."

"Next best thing to hospital gowns. Apparently real clothes aren't an option here."

"Nor is you going anywhere without your medicine." He tapped her hand where the IV went in.

"Yeah and that's why they won't let me leave. They say they won't even let me go when they do get me off the medicine. They'll have to _monitor_ me before they let me leave."

"You sound like you'd leave right now if they'd let you."

"I would. Like I said, it's really boring here. There's absolutely nothing to do."

"You know, I thought you might feel that way. So I brought you something." He reached into his bag and pulled out a book. "This is one of my favorites, and it's not even American."

"What is is?" She moved to sit up, but Eddie pushed her back down.

"You should stay lying down as sick as you are. This is the first _Alex Rider_ book. It's about a fourteen-year-old recruited to MI6 after the death of his uncle. It's really good."

"Yeah, I think I've heard of those." She moved to sit up again.

"It's okay, lie down. I'll read to you."

"Alright" Patricia was slightly wary. Eddie was being a little bit too nice to her. But she laid back down and allowed him to read.

Somewhere in chapter three, she moved her head onto his lap. It caused him to pause in his reading for a moment.

"Keep going," she assured him, "I like it."

Eddie returned to the book and as the plot got more and more climactic, he was surprised to see that he wasn't getting any reaction from her. He looked down to find that she had fallen asleep.

"Either the book was really boring, or you're really tired." He said out loud even though he knew she wouldn't hear him. He gently poked her arm and whispered her name to make sure she was really asleep. Once he had been assured, he let his hand fall onto her head and he stroked her hair, something she would never let him do if she were awake.

After it became clear to him that she wouldn't wake up any time soon, he picked her up, carried her back into her room, and placed her in her bed: a task that would have been far easier had he not had to take her IV medicine with him as well.

When he returned to the room, he felt a little guilty to see his dad waiting there for him. He had totally forgotten that they had come together.

"Hey, dad, I'm sorry I forgot you were here. I got a little caught up with her." He gestured to Patricia who he had just placed back in her bed.

"That's fine, I thought I'd give you two some alone time." He stood up from the chair he was sitting in. "I know how it is for you young lovers these days."

Eddie blushed slightly at that. "Yeah, well, I brought a book and we were reading so... um... are you ready to head out?"

"Yes, if you are."

Eddie and his dad headed out of the hospital. "the doctors told me they planned on taking her off the IV soon." Mr. Sweet said, "Then they'd only have to wait about a day to see if she remains stable without it."

"That's what she was telling me, although she didn't have such a positive attitude about it."

"Why's that?"

"She's ready to leave now."

"She's still pretty sick, even though it doesn't appear that way. Do you know that? The doctor's say she should get better, but the medicine is what's keeping her feeling well. Once she's taken off of that, she won't be in such a good mood."

Unfortunately, the doctors were only too right. They took her off of the IV the next day and she was absolutely miserable.

"So, no meds today, how does that feel?" Eddie asked as he walked in.

"It feels utterly awful." Her arm was covering her eyes and she didn't take it off to talk to him.

"What's your temperature now?"

". I don't remember the exact number."

"That sounds good. You might be able to come home soon then, right?"

"I suppose." Her hand still remained over her eyes.

"I'll just let you sleep then."

"That would be great."

It wasn't one of her better days. But on the bright side, she did finally return home the next day where she was forced to remain in her room by Trudy until she had made a full recovery.

That also made her pretty miserable.


	9. Back Home

Eddie went into her room after school that day.

"So, you're finally in the clear, Yakker."

"I hate to say it, but I just wish I could get better and go back to school."

"Back to school? What on earth has this terrible sickness done to you?"

"Nothing." She threw her pillow at him, "I'm just sick of being sick, that's all. You may not believe it, but being in the hospital is just one heap of feeling awful and being bored."

"I see. I have to say, though, you gave me quite a scare."

"No need to be afraid, baby." She smirked at him and then coughed.

"See, you're still not fully recovered."

"Yeah, but Trudy says I can probably go back the day after tomorrow."

"Let's see." He reached down and pressed his hand to her forehead. "No, you still feel pretty hot to me."

"Don't worry about it so much."

And she hadn't lied. Trudy let her go back to school shortly after she came home even though she still had a bit of a low fever.

She had run to catch up to Eddie as he left for school. "Hey, wait up, I'm joining you today."

"You can't. You're still sick, Yakker."

"Barely, besides, I'm far from sick enough to stay home another day."

"If you say so." He said, and then he leaned down to kiss her once more. Her lips were slightly warm from her slight fever.

"Hey," Joy ran to catch up to the two, "I heard you were finally rejoining the land of the living today."

"Yup, and I was absolutely sick of being a member of the dead."

"I could see that happening."

"Luckily, I had Eddie to entertain me some of the time." She smiled up at him, "what happened to that book?"

"It put you to sleep, remember?"

"No, I don't actually. I did fall asleep, but not because the book was boring. You can't use that against me, I was sick."

"Right..." Eddie paused to kiss her again.

"Hello, you have an audience here. Save it for when you're alone!" Joy pushed Patricia away from Eddie.

"Fine, spoilsport. You need to get yourself a boyfriend so you can stop complaining at the people who already have one." She shoved Joy playfully back.

The three of them walked to school together.

Eddie was happy to have Patricia back in class beside him, although he would never admit it. When school was out of session for the day, the two of them walked back together.

"You know I really was pretty worried about you for a while." He said to her.

"I wouldn't have been. It's not like I would've died or anything, yeah?"

"Yeah, I guess not. But you really did bring the house down in your absence."

"That's because you all have more fun when I'm around."

"I have more fun when you're around." This comment was rewarded with another kiss. "Don't get sick again anytime soon, okay."

"I'll do my best."

The two of them walked back the rest of the way to the house together. As they reached the door, a thought occurred to Eddie.

"Hey Patricia," he said.

"Yeah?"

"While you were sick, there was a point when they weren't completely sure if you'd pull through. At that point something occurred to me."

"What's that?"

"I thought that if you died, I wouldn't have the chance to tell you something pretty important."

"And that would be..?"

"I love you." Eddie's eyes were sincere and gentle as he looked straight into hers.

Patricia thought for a moment. The she responded, "I love you too, Eddie."

**And that's the end. Thanks to everyone who reviewed throughout this story's process and put up with the fact that I'm not very good at posting regularly. I hope you enjoyed it!**


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